BANKING ANALYTICS

Ranking of the Azerbaijani banking sector (ranking includes the information component of the banking sector, the main events of the world economy, the analytical review of the main indices of the banks which are being ranked)

Asia feels crisis as Brown seeks Gulf help

Two Asian powerhouse economies felt the
sting of the global financial crisis on Saturday as India cut its main
short-term lending rate and China said it was bracing for a slowdown, Reuters reported.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown traveled to the
Gulf in an appeal to oil-rich states to pour money into stabilizing the world
financial system and help afflicted countries.

Other countries took steps to shore up
their own economies. Russia moved 170 billion rubles (3.96 billion pounds) from
a national fund to a state bank, and Russian shares rose in a special Saturday
session].

And German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged
German banks to tap a 500 billion euro (394 billion pounds) government rescue
package. She and Brown will meet in London on Thursday.

The developments in the worst financial
crisis in eight decades followed signs in the past week that world markets were
stabilising, with interbank rates falling and U.S. stocks posting their best
week in 34 years.

But in Shanghai, a senior Bank of China
executive said the impact of the crisis on China has started to appear.

China has seen a
sharp slowdown in industrial profit growth and fiscal income, Executive Vice
President Zhu Min said.

The global economy will likely enter
recession next year with the United States, Europe and Japan posting negative growth, he said.

"That will have a huge impact on China," he said.

Zhu also said currency volatility was
expected to add further pressure on China's banks, which have enjoyed robust
profits for years as the country boomed. Earnings growth is now slowing as the
economy cools from the impact of the crisis.

"The uncertainties in the world's
currency markets have exposed the Chinese banking sector to higher foreign
asset risk," Zhu told a financial conference.